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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23860267">Children</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilllac/pseuds/lilllac'>lilllac</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Percy Jackson and the Olympians &amp; Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Gen, Two-Shot, dark!Bianca di Angelo, dark!Frank Zhang, dark!Nico di Angelo, dark!Reyna, percy and annabeth make some bad decisions and have to deal with the consequences, titan's curse and mark of athena with a twist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:16:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,801</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23860267</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilllac/pseuds/lilllac</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"As they were the omen of death itself, the crows perched on Cronos's shoulders ... As they were never the same after Percy had lost them on the cliff"</p>
<p>"And then the ax came down, bit the meat with a hungry edge, and Annabeth closed her eyes, concluding that it was Reyna's mercy, in her own way."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annabeth Chase &amp; Frank Zhang, Annabeth Chase &amp; Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase &amp; Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Bianca di Angelo &amp; Nico di Angelo, Bianca di Angelo &amp; Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo &amp; Percy Jackson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. ... of death</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>In case it wasn't clear in the tags: this has some very graphic violence, so, beware. </p>
<p>The fic will consist of two chapters that take place in different alternative universes. In this firstone, Percy failed to save the siblings in Titan's Curse, and the consequences are severe.</p>
<p>Also, english is not my first language, so I apologize for any mistakes to be surely found.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Thalia's presence had always been hovering over his head, from the moment he had sank into that world of heroic legends. It seemed that the name of Zeus' only daughter was said with as much reverence and awe as those of the gods and creatures of the underworld. Nobody wanted to be caught talking about her, nobody wanted to mull the memories that had been buried for so long. And so, when she came out of the tree, on that early cloudy morning, her name resurfaced like flames of fire, consuming the pavilion and the cabins, spreading in multicolored messages and whispers and letters to the oldest demigods, scattered between New York and the world, and it seemed that all those whose Olympian blood flowed through their veins wanted to see the creation of the god of gods with their own eyes.</p><p> </p><p>It was a bitter feeling - and inexplicably uncomfortable. Percy, in his 14-year-old innocence, could not quite understand that that silent monster that ate at his chest was envy, hissing a series of injuries in his ears. Thalia didn't make it easy, always looking at him that way ... <em> affected </em> , her eyes sparkling, the drawn-in smile that revealed a sharp canine, so uniquely characteristic, and  <em> how come Chiron hasn't taught you that yet, Percy? </em></p><p> </p><p>So when he saw the doctor with the glass eye dragging the two brown-haired siblings out of the gym, he pushed Thalia's - and Grover's - complaints to the back of his head, telling himself that he was perfectly capable to do that alone. <em> I am the ocean </em> , he thought,  <em> and when the rain falls, I remain as strong as ever. </em></p><p> </p><p>And yet, there he was, the son of the seas, his vision blurred and his head spinning from the blow, trying to make out the scene that splashed with light, slow snow. Grover had tied a carving around Annabeth's ankle, but it was purple, and she was pale, her lips blue and the area around her eyes, green. A sticky substance dripped from the corner of her lips, remnants of a manticore poison that had barely been neutralized before it reached her heart. Percy's was beating uncontrollably against his ribs, his throat dry, and...</p><p> </p><p>"What the fuck do you have in mind, Jackson?!". Thalia snarled, in a way that made it look like the snowflakes had stopped in the air, suspended, a wave of pure hatred trembling between them.</p><p> </p><p>She stepped forward in the spreading white cloak, sinking her boots, and marched up to him. Her shield, Aegis, was still attached to a wrist, but luckily she had the consideration of sending it flying into the corner, hitting a tree trunk in the center, and it sparked with a million clicks of electricity. Percy's whole body shook, like the waves crashing on the side of a boulder. Normally, he was not afraid, but perhaps it was the fright, the apprehension with Annabeth...</p><p> </p><p>... And the way Thalia <em> looked  </em>at him.</p><p> </p><p>"I thought ..." He tried to moisten his lips.</p><p> </p><p>"Of what?" she snapped, moving further to push him on the shoulders. Percy faltered and almost fell. "What the fuck did you think?!".</p><p> </p><p>"Thalia ..." Grover called, in a small voice.</p><p> </p><p>"No, let him talk" Thalia turned a moment to look at the satyr, electric currents visible running through her nape and fingertips when her hair swayed.</p><p> </p><p>"I thought ... I thought I could save them by myself".</p><p> </p><p>Percy looked down at his hands, callused and bloodstained. The images were vivid in his mind, flashing like neon signs. The way the monster grabbed Nico around his neck, blood draining from the boy's mouth like a tap, eyes turning in their sockets. Bianca's final cry, how she had jumped to protect him, the ground trembling under her feet. Had he been less lost and confused, perhaps Percy would also have heard the boulders that dropped off the cliff with each of the older girl's heartbeats.</p><p> </p><p>And how they had fallen ... and fallen and fallen ...</p><p> </p><p>"I don't know what your problem is," she continued, seeming to use every fiber in her body to keep herself from attacking him right there. Chiron had informed them that their origins would always be pitting at each other and that they needed to resist that. Each breath dilated hr nostrils, like a rabid bull. "But those two ... those two ...!".</p><p> </p><p>Her speech was spared when a group of girls appeared cutting the forest with machetes and bearskins. Percy hoped they were allies because the pain pulsing in his shoulders wouldn't make him much use in battle. The one ahead, with strange silver eyes and a childish face, watched the scene with caution, orbits traveling between the three injured children, the fallen tree, and the blood-splattered snow.</p><p> </p><p>Annabeth took a breath like she was coming back to life. She coughed violently, and, in a breathless voice, reported:</p><p> </p><p>"... Hades ...".</p><p> </p><p>The girl's eyes widened. She watched them for a moment more, before waving something to her followers, who split into groups in different directions, and said:</p><p> </p><p>"It's best if you come with me. I fear that nothing after that this will ever be the same".</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>«»</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Even two years later, Percy still dreamed of that day. Of the desperate look in Nico's olive eyes, with the fear in Bianca's voice. Of the way they had plummeted and never reappeared. He dragged his feet to the Big House, where the advisers of the other cabins were gathered, and no one else spoke when he entered. Sitting on the windowsill and sharpening an arrow on a stone was Thalia, but she didn't look in his direction.</p><p> </p><p>"What do we have?".</p><p> </p><p>Annabeth ran her hands full of knots through the extended map. She had lost part of the movement on her left arm, and she had a huge scar stained to tell the story. Her eyes looked more tired than ever, with a red line that followed the watermark, and dark circles to finish the look.</p><p> </p><p>"Information keeps coming in from several different sources, so it's difficult to filter. But most seem to point that Luke and the rest of them are gathered here," she pointed to a specific point on the map. She seemed to be repeating that for the thousandth time, and she probably was. "We will attack at sunrise. You should rest".</p><p> </p><p>The meeting was dispersed. Thalia passed him without saying a word and ducked into Zeus's Cabin. The other hunters went to 8, but he had noticed a long time ago that whenever something referred to that night, the lieutenant tended to isolate herself. Percy sighed, shook Annabeth's hand as simply as he could, and walked to the lake.</p><p> </p><p>With his thoughts racing and his mind flooding with all the different deaths that could finish cutting his thread with the Fates, Percy sank to the sand at the bottom and stayed there.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>«»</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Olympus collapsed around them. <em> It's over </em> , he thought,  <em> gods, it's over </em>. Annabeth ran beside him, holding her dislocated shoulder in place. The structure roared with each step, as if it were about to plummet and take them with it. Down in Manhattan, Percy had left Grover to deal with the Titans, but the largest contingent had lost their strength and morale when Clarisse's torso had been smashed between Drakon's jaw and her blood had painted the asphalt red. Now they were a horde of frightened demigods and nymphs, killing any monsters they reached before they were killed first.</p><p> </p><p>Thalia had been leading the Artemis Hunters with enough dignity until she heard from someone that Luke was heading for the center of the battle. Then she had disappeared into the air, a line of electricity from where she was, all the way to the building, and Percy heard thunder, even though no raindrops had fallen. He and Annabeth had followed. Found Luke at an intersection of Olympus, leading a small part of the monster army.</p><p> </p><p>Thalia had hit him with the shield behind his head in a way that made his skull break and blood flow like a spring. Luke had muttered something while Annabeth covered her mouth to prevent a scream. Percy wanted to have done something but he just watched as Thalia calmly removed an arrow from the quiver and stuck the sharp point in the back of the Hermes's son neck until the blade reappeared on the other side, dripping. Luke's eyes turned in their sockets, and he fell. Thalia had jumped out of the building in the clouds and disappeared, and now they were running.</p><p> </p><p>They knew that the Titan of time was somewhere on Olympus, his life force emanating and influencing the hordes below. But the very thought constricted Percy's rib cage. He needed to face it, at least to let the prophecy do its part before he became another name forgotten in the Milenia of the gods. If there were still gods to tell the story after it was over.</p><p> </p><p>They entered a decrepit hall and Annabeth's eyes scanned for an exit. And then the opposite wall creaked and a plethora of lines broke on tit until it collapsed into a heap of smaller stones. The sight took his breath away: they were well above the battle, closer than they should have been to Olympus. Downstairs, a girl was sitting on the edge of a chariot pulled by two horses that had no more meat than putrid bones and thick black smoke, which censored the rotten meat that came off their skeletons. They neighed and whined with each move, but she remained unmoved.</p><p> </p><p>With a spear made of bones and dark metal - steel from the underworld, he noticed - she swept the battlefield, spinning and swirling with neither wild look, nor amused, nor cruel. It was just frozen. She jumped from the chariot and beat the horses' lower back, sending them running at a frantic pace, crushing young people under their molten hooves. She buried the spear in the ground and it cracked open, the burnt smell of death rising to Percy's nostrils and brooding over all the memories he was trying to chase away.</p><p> </p><p>When she looked over her shoulder at them, he noticed most of her hair was hidden in a skull-shaped helmet, which gleamed silver, but the hairs that escaped were still the same ebony shade he remembered. Her eyes, bored, looked like the moss from the bottom of the ocean mixed with a funereal and sickly brown. There were dark lines around them, but she was as impossibly young as if no night had passed since Percy had dropped her off the cliff two years ago.</p><p> </p><p>Bianca di Angelo.</p><p> </p><p>"Eyes up here, or you may miss your own last moments," a voice resonated behind them "how tragic does this sound?".</p><p> </p><p>He spun on his heel and wielded Riptide, although his arms were as heavy as steel and he could barely breathe. Across the room, leaning against the colossal door was a boy a little taller than he was. He wore armor that gleamed silver underclothes of boiled leather, and from a scabbard, a black steel sword hung so long that it touched the ground. The gloves did not leave open spaces, and he did not wear a helmet. The collar of the breastplate hid the throat and neck, carved with two skulls that stood in profile, with smoke leaving their mouths and joining in the center, forming a rune in Greek that Percy had come to know very well.</p><p> </p><p>"Cronos," Annabeth said aloud, "time."</p><p> </p><p>"Luke insisted," he shrugged, "said it would raise the morale of the troops. Ethan and I said it was stupid, but as Bianca was silent as always, her word was taken for granted, and now I have this ridiculous coat of arms".</p><p> </p><p>He spoke so naturally as if this were just another conversation in a countless collection. But Percy couldn't take his eyes off him. The skin had turned white as ivory, and the dark circles were purple. His nose was long and straight and his dark hair fell on his shoulders in thick wavy strands. He walked calmly to the center of the room.</p><p> </p><p>"I understand," Nico said. "Bianca can be terribly distracting. People always prefer to look at her rather than at me. Kind of unfair, isn't it?".</p><p> </p><p>He drew his sword. The steel shone in the light. Nico looked like a Hellenistic painting, a soldier drawing in the splendor of his battle. Percy did his best to hold Riptide in front of his face. He was dejected and tired, but he had to face it.</p><p> </p><p>"Cronos. Where is Cronos?".</p><p> </p><p>"I never know," Nico shrugged yet again, "I prefer not to. Since I went to <em> Mare Nostrum </em> and took the scepter of the Diocletian, and gave him a new body to inhabit, Cronos lets me do what I want. Keeping him alive drains a good deal of my energy, but at least I don't have to stay down there, like her. It is one of the advantages of being the youngest. Bianca takes care of all the responsibilities of being a servant of the time lord. I just follow orders. Today, I have a very specific one".</p><p> </p><p>Percy's mouth trembled. Nico's voice, the way he chose words ... his heart ached with the image of a 12-year-old boy who kept chattering about some stupid card game. That boy in front of him, with a still voice and a subtle look, was a murderer. Someone who had already killed on behalf of Cronos more times than he cared to tell.</p><p> </p><p>"Nico, I," Percy didn't quite know what he meant. <em> I'm sorry? I don't fight you? </em></p><p> </p><p>"Don't say you wanted to save me." He dragged the sword edge to the floor as he approached. "Don't say you wanted to jump off that cliff. Don't say you tried," the words came out in a blur as if he was feeling the first genuine emotion in years. "All this time. All those damn years. I've been listening to stories about the <em> bastard Percy Jackson </em>. Hearing Luke complaining about all the ships you sank, and all the plans you threw down the water drain. How you are the damn hero of a fucking prophecy, promised to save the world from people like me".</p><p> </p><p>He was close now. So close that if he had enough strength, Percy could slash his throat. But he had none. And he let him speak. </p><p> </p><p>"When Luke talks about you, everyone looks at us," he said, "Bianca and me. Everyone expects me to join you. But why should I, Perseus? If you are that great and magnificent hero," his breath was cold, and Percy was sick, "why didn't you save me?".</p><p> </p><p>He saw his own eyes reflected in the pools of dark acid that were Nico's irises. A chorus of voices mixed in his mind. The countless accounts of how the two sons of the underworld had swept troops alone, cracking the ground, rebelling against their father's domain. How that had made Hades an unstable and hateful god again. And, mainly, how they sometimes did not move, did not bother - they just stood and made people turn into ghosts until nothing was left but memories and the last whine of a nameless soul.</p><p> </p><p>As they were the omen of death itself, the crows that perched on Cronos's shoulders, the scythes that did the dirty work, and painted the walls red and funerals black. How they had never been the same since Percy had lost them on the cliff and delivered them directly to Cronos.</p><p> </p><p>Bianca and Nico had been terrified the night Percy lost them. If he looked closely, the boy still had the manticore claw marks on his pale skin. And Bianca had almost broken a cliff in the middle trying to save her brother.</p><p> </p><p>But the two orbits that looked back at him had no expression.</p><p> </p><p>Annabeth cried out when the edge of Nico's sword tore through Percy's flesh and stuck on the other side. He lost his balance, Riptide tinkling on the floor, and his mouth opened, giving way to the first vomit of blood. A ringing sounded in his ears. Nico pulled the blade back, and Percy dropped to his knees. He put his hands on his abdomen and felt the blood running, sticky and thick, flowing between his fingers.</p><p> </p><p>He wanted to say something, but the only word that left his cracked lips was in a small voice, one foot already on the other side of life:</p><p> </p><p>"I'm sorry...".</p><p> </p><p>Nico smiled, the tips of his lips pulled back, and there was a sparkle in his eyes for a millisecond.</p><p> </p><p>"There's no reason to apologize," he crouched down until his mouth was inches from Percy's ear. Blood spurted from his lips again, and he was going to plummet forward, but Nico held him tightly by the shoulder. The warm blood on his hands made him nauseous. "You killed me that night, Percy Jackson. I have never been more grateful to anyone than I am to you".</p><p> </p><p>He heard the steel blade slide when Nico dragged it, and then it was digging into his back, breaking it again, expelling the air from his lungs with a cold, cruel thread. Percy's vision darkened. When Nico spoke again, he seemed to be distant, distant ...</p><p> </p><p>"Die, little soldier. Die while there is time".</p><p> </p><p>Percy did, not that he had much of a choice. His body fell limp in the pool of blood that was spreading, and outside, the sea boomed with such force that it tore the houses off the hillside. Something has changed in the battle. The demigods started to evacuate.</p><p> </p><p>When Bianca returned, covered in blood that dripped from her armor, and saw the two bodies at her brother's feet, she asked:</p><p> </p><p>"What did you do?".</p><p> </p><p>"What I needed," he replied.</p><p> </p><p>He ran a fingertip across the corroded and sawn blade of her spear. He looked at the open vacuum in the wall, at the storm that was building, and felt the air getting heavy, palpable. Kronos' power trembled in his gut.</p><p> </p><p>"They wouldn't want to be here to see what comes next".</p><p> </p><p>Bianca pulled the blade back to her.</p><p> </p><p>"We will".</p><p> </p><p>Nico followed. They walked through the open battle, hell on earth, heaven in their memories and a promise of a much worse tomorrow, courtesy of the two Angels of Death who now flew free for what was left of the city.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. . of war</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>last half, finally. I'm so sorry for the wait. Hope it's enjoyable.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Annabeth had watched, body and mind rigid, when Jason had bent over to compliment Percy for the job well done on New Rome.</p><p>Perhaps there was no static in the air, or electricity, or the smell of saltwater - the two of them would certainly have noticed that - but she wondered if there were other types of omens for natural disasters. Looking down at her plate, she wondered if there was any way of knowing when the <em>war</em> was coming. Reyna had turned the apple around in her hand, sinking her nails into the slimy skin, the juice running down her languid fingers. Her gaze was hard and an impassive obsidian, the way she watched them from under thick lashes.</p><p>No one else seemed to have heard the comment. That, or the Romans were very good at pretending ignorance. But <em>Annabeth</em> noticed. She looked at Reyna's face again. There were small pale lines spread across her skin, as there were in all of them. But she could see the strange, almost ryhtimic way in which she was frowning her left eyebrow. How she leaned a little more when Leo spoke on that side.</p><p><em>She's deaf</em>, she thought. <em>Or very close to that.</em></p><p>She listed in her mind what kind of thing could cause deafness in someone who looked so healthy. Degenerative diseases, to be sure, but Reyna looked like the kind of demigod who was often in battle, she should have eaten a lot of ambrosia in her warlike years, and the food of the gods had the interesting side effect of getting rid of little deadly ailments, like colds, or diseases, without them noticing. She looked up at the sky, at Argo II, in all its splendor. And her attention stopped at the balistas.</p><p>Putting the facts together, it was simple to see. Reyna reacted to the smallest sounds, even if almost imperceptibly. A raise of eyebrows, a drawing of the lips, a tapping of the finger on the table. Everything to hide an obvious discomfort. And partial deafness confirmed her hypotheses. She had survived some major explosion. The effects still haunted the young praetor.</p><p>Jason and Percy continued talking about their adventures, almost ignoring her, and Annabeth wanted to stop them. Who was stupid enough to set foot on Roman soil and belittle the lodging? Maybe Jason felt safe enough because Reyna was his friend, but judging by the curious way she was watching him, perhaps the girl wasn't so sure anymore. Annabeth felt it was unnecessary danger to play with the hospitality of those who had been her enemies for so long.</p><p>But what would she say? <em>Pay attention to the girl, dammit?</em> No. She had understood as soon as she saw Reyna frown at the magic in Piper's voice that they were playing a dangerous guessing game. She was reading her movements as much as the the other girl was reading hers. If she threw her cards on the table, it was impossible to predict what she might do. And yet, a monster of anguish clutched at her throat, while the voices of Percy and Jason mingled in the background.</p><p>Percy's two Roman friends seemed cruelly out of place, which made her feel a little sorry. It was clear that they were not entirely Roman, but they did not fit with the Greeks either. Maybe they just fit in with Percy, but her boyfriend was busy. She wanted to ask about them. About the boy's terrified looks at Leo, and the shy way the girl looked away.</p><p>But she couldn't. Not when Reyna was right there.</p><p>Eventually, she was left alone with the praetor. She wished she hadn't , because now she knew exactly what explosion had hurt Reyna for the rest of her life, even though she eyna hadn't hinted at anything. Annabeth could see that they were similar, and suddenly, she started to feel hopeful.</p><p>And then Leo had fired the balistas, and Annabeth's world became a breathless hell. She smelled boiled blood, burnt flesh, the sounds of death on the hill below. And she saw the fire reflected in Reyna's dark irises.</p><p>"You betrayed me, Annabeth," she said, in a simple tone that did not reveal surprise, "and they say that Rome is the land of traitors."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>"My fault?" Jason yelled "I wans't the one that-".</p><p>"Stop it, both of you" Annabeth intervined, pulling them apart. She didn't know where Leo had gotten all that courage from, but it certaintly wans't a new found trait he should have when facing Jupiter's son, especially not when there was already a storm outside waiting to swallow them all. "It doesn't matter whoose fault it was". </p><p><em>But it does</em>, a small voice said inside her head. <em>We disrespected Rome, right inside their houses. Spit on their praetor good faith and asked for an alliance afterwards. </em></p><p>The <em>Argo II </em>trembled with a thunder and Leo, the lightest of them all, was sent flying towards the border of the ship, but Piper managed to get a hold of him in time, and Jason went out with a scowl. Annabeth let herself sigh for a moment. </p><p>"Any word from them?". </p><p>Percy looked devasteted. </p><p>"It wasn't your fault" she said. </p><p><em>But it was, </em>the same voice resounded again. If they had done something, Frank would not be between life and death with a stone stuck in his head.</p><p>But there was nothing they could do now. They needed to get away with the ship as much as they could. If she had interpreted Reyna correctly, the girl would first make sure that none of hers were dying within the limits of New Rome before setting out against them. If there were two praetors, one would be taking care of the wounded and the other making chase, but it was just her.</p><p>Thank the gods, it was just her. The other two pretoria were on that same boat, trying hard not to make the storm outside worse. And yet, the thought did not bring her much comfort. Reyna might have been just one, but she had been on board a pirate ship for too long not to know how their routes worked. The praetor was not a daughter of Poseidon, but it did not take very deep research in history books to read about the great captains of the English fleets who had been killed by mere corsairs with a saber and sharp minds. For better or for worse, intelligence was sometimes far more dangerous than intrinsic talent.</p><p>"She's not going to catch up with us," Percy had promised, "nobody knows how to guide a ship like me."</p><p>Annabeth had agreed.</p><p><em>Blackbeard sailed the seas for decades before being traped by Circe</em>, she brooded. <em>And he was not the kindest of pirates.</em></p><p>"I wonder how many people she threw off the board," she murmured under her breath.</p><p>Percy blinked. "What?".</p><p>She kissed him softly. She wanted to be able to calm him down, but her own mind betrayed her.</p><p>"Nothing. Go to sleep".</p><p> </p><p>Landing was a bad idea, but she already knew that.</p><p>First came the eagles. Annabeth had never really appreciated eagles as well as the moment she saw them, slicing through the cloudy sky like sharp blades and falling on them, thrusting their claws into her skin, pulling and pecking. Jason moved the winds to ward them off, but then the wolves came. The first pack appeared howling at the edge of the mountain, and the others followed. It was difficult to keep the eagles under control when a wolf was clinging to his arm. Leo attacked with fire, and Piper with charm, and Annabeth did her best to dodge the animals. But the Romans weren't even attacking yet.</p><p>Octavian's voice came from the dock.</p><p>"I would stop with the fire, if it were you".</p><p>He was followed by a legion. The horses move slowly, cautiously, and Annabeth didn't have to look long to find out why. In the saddles came bottles capped with Greek fire, glowing green, hungry. She felt her skin tingle. There were many. All it would take was one them to break and Octavian would send everyone - including himself - to hell. It was an extremely dangerous plan. But the Romans considered the sacrifice in battle worthy of honor, and perhaps Annabeth had judged it wrong, and the little oracle was a little more Roman than she thought.</p><p>-Hold" - another voice boomed.</p><p>The mounted Romans held the flexed, pointed bows, but did not fire. At the center of the formation, a larger, more burly figure came foward. He came in a dark stallion, in full armor, and seemed to block out almost all of the sunlight. On one side of the face, he had a scar so big and thick that the hair no longer grew. Annabeth swallowed an exclamation. Percy failed:</p><p>
  <em>"Frank?".</em>
</p><p>He spurred the horse. The eagles and wolves had stopped moving forward. Annabeth felt tiny when he approached.</p><p>"Your weapons detonated New Rome's protective wards," he said in "The next day, hordes of monsters invaded the city. The city, Percy. Do you have any idea how many children and elderly people I saw dying, trapped in the infirmary without being able to move, or fight?".</p><p>"I..."Annabeth tried.</p><p>"It was quite a plan," Frank conceded, nodding. "Losing your memory, becoming one of us. When you arrived at camp, I <em>wanted</em> Reyna to trust you, even though I knew it wasn't likely. And when she did..." He frowned, and the scar moved with the scowl. "I should never have trusted a daughter of Minerva," he said. "You doubled your words and convinced our praetor. You're smart, Annabeth, but now you're a traitor to Rome".</p><p>Annabeth had no affection for Romans, but she did not wish to be a traitor. She noticed how much Frank had grown, how much he surpassed her in size and austerity.</p><p>"How many children of war do you know, Annabeth?" He asked.</p><p>The question took her by surprise. She thought about Clarisse. In Silena too, in a way. But she knew that their war was different. She did not answer.</p><p>"Let me tell you something about war," he dismounted from the horse. "One of the oldest tricks is to distract the enemy with a more obvious threat, you know?".</p><p>Something clicked in her mind, like gears turning. But it was too fast. </p><p>A shadow passed over Frank's face, and then she heard a cry of pain so absurd that she felt her own heart breaking in pieces. She looked over her shoulder, horrified, only to see Hazel's horse, beating happily with its hooves on the lawn, neighing softly. The girl's gold helmet did not allow her to see her satisfaction, but Leo was a light boy.</p><p>Light enough to be carried from the tip of a cavalry spear, with the blade going through his heart.</p><p>Blood foamed from his mouth, and he still moved his hands, trying to reach his chest. Hazel held the weapon with both hands until the movements stopped, and then threw it on the ground, as if it were nothing more than a broken spear. Annabeth wanted to run, but Frank caught her by the chin. Up close, his face made her shiver.</p><p>"There is another one too" he said "in which you gather the enemy contingent in a cluster, and attack from the flanks. It is good for breaking barriers and dispersing. The original Roma used this strategy a lot. <em>Divide and conquer</em>".</p><p>But by this time, Jason and Percy were already shaking the mountains, water bursting to the surface, whips swirling around them, and wind pulling the nearest trees. Annabeth's head plunged into the cacophony. The Romans emerged from both ends, shouting and banging their spears onto armor. The eagles attacked again, the wolves jumped. One managed to hit Jason in the throat with his maw, and she heard when Piper had her eyes gouged out by a bird.</p><p>"Stop ..." she pleaded "...stop...".</p><p>"But the most efficient one remains a good old trap," he said, putting his hands together in front of his chest.</p><p>Annabeth heard the wings snort over her head. She felt the leather falling on her shoulders, crowning her neck, and she felt it when it was pulled. She fell backwards, her head on a rock, and the air left her lungs. She coughed and stuck her hands in the ground, desperately trying to get attached to something. The dirt entered her nails, her head spun, she felt the blood soaking her chin, running in her ears ...</p><p>The pegasus landed. From the top of her saddle, Reyna pulled her whip harder and dragged Annabeth over to her. The world had become a jumble of colors and sounds, and she couldn't say her own name anymore.</p><p>If there were two praetors, one would still be in new Rome ....</p><p>But she understood when the girl said:</p><p>"By the authority vested in me, I declare you a prisoner of the Legion".</p><p>There were two. There were two, and they were both there.</p><p> </p><p>Her throat was dry and burning, scabs had formed on her knees where the blood had dried, and the soot had mixed with the sweat and tears on her face. There was almost no light there. Annabeth did not know how much time had passed. Sometimes, someone would give her a chestnut and a glass of water, but it was no more than that.</p><p>She was unconscious when they pulled her out. She opened her eyes in the middle of the path where she was being dragged. Her toenails had grown, and broken, and grown again. They were a grotesque sight of clotted and blood. Her clothes were made of a fabric that pricked, but they looked cleaner than the ones she was wearing when she had lost consciousness. Down there, in the valley, the Romans shouted at her with insults and curses, threw food and waste.</p><p>At the top, Reyna and Frank were waiting for her.</p><p>She went through an interrogation. When she thought of lying - when she said she was a true friend of Rome, who had never wished it misfortune - one of Reyna's dogs had torn off half of her finger phalanx, and she only told the truth from then on. The Romans asked for blood. But the two pretores remaine rigid, like iron.</p><p>Suddenly, Annabeth realized that she did not want to die.</p><p>She thought that a life so close to death would have accustomed her. She had grown up with Chiron telling her that demigods didn't live long. She thought she would have already accepted it. But she had not.</p><p>She didn't want to die, she didn't want to die, she didn't want ...</p><p>She was dragged up to another hill. But far away and a smaller audience. There was a platform and a gallows. She felt her knees tremble. A shadow cast over them.</p><p>"Keep your face turned west," Reyna whispered to her, in a soft voice.</p><p>It sounded like mercy. But Annabeth didn't think she was capable of that. She climbed onto the bench and waited, but Frank held up a hand to the crowd that still followed them.</p><p>"There will be no hanging" he said, which was met with audible rejection "Minerva's daughter will be beheaded. This is our final word".</p><p>She was forced to kneel. When she laid her head on the stump, however, she forgot Reyna's words, and saw it.<em> And she saw it.</em></p><p>Bile mixed with the blood in her mouth and she vomited, crying. They had not used nails, but the strings around his wrists were so tight that they had left everything around purple. He was thin, cheeks carved, and a hundred wounds had been opened in his face and torso by the birds that fed on poor souls. She cried more, unable to say anything other than:</p><p>"Percy..."</p><p>"He betrayed us as a praetor.”Frank said, as he brushed her hair off the back of her neck. Annabeth was shaking. "You could not have expected the same kind of mercy for him".</p><p><em>No, I couldn't</em>, she thought. And yet, that didn't stop her from vomiting a second time.</p><p>"I warned you not to look," Reyna reminded her.</p><p>And then the ax came down, bit the meat with a hungry edge, and Annabeth closed her eyes, concluding that this was Reyna's mercy, in its own way.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>When I wrote this a few years ago, I really wanted to write something about Reyna's pirate years. I wonder if I'll ever get to that.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoyed it, comments are always appreciated. :)<br/>Next chapter: when visiting New Rome, Reyna and the others don't take Jason's comments so well. When Leo fires at the city, the Romans are not so merciful. Takes place during Mark of Athena.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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